BENI, a river of South America, formed by the junction of several streams flowing eastward from the Andes in about 18° south. Its course is north and northeast through Bo livia; and on the border of Brazil it unites with the Mamore to form the Madeira, by which its waters are carried to the Amazon. It receives several tributaries of importance, the chief being the Madre de Dios from Peru, and it is navigable throughout a great part of its course. Its length is about 850 miles.
ba'ne-has'san, Egypt, village on the east bank of the Nile below Assiut, remarkable for the rock-hewn tombs in the neighborhood, 39 in number, cut in the calcareous stone of the mountain. They are sepulchres of the ancient monarchs who ruled the district about 2000 B.C. They exhibit. inter esting paintings and hieroglyphics. The paint ings portray incidents in the ancient life of Egypt and the inscriptions are of great value for the light they throw upon the history of the 12th dynasty. In recent years the mural decorations have suffered at the hands of relic hunters. The remainder have been carefully copied at the direction of the Egypt Explora tion .Fund. Consult of • the Ar chaeological Survey of Egypt' (Vols. I, II, V, 189Z 1893-96).
ba'ne-iz'ri-El, a race in the west of India (the Konkan sea board, Bombay, etc.), who keep a tradition of Jewish origin and whose religion is a modified Juda ism. By some persons they are supposed to be a remnant of the 10 tribes. Their number is estimated at 5‘000 and in feature they re semble the Jews of Arabia. They abstain from the flesh of unclean animals and observe the Sabbath strictly. Some of their learned doc tors are acquainted with Hebrew, but to the vast majority the Scriptures are unknown. They observe several of the religious customs common among their neighbors the Hindus. Little is known as to the time of their settle ment in India, but it is certain that they had been there for many centuries when, in 1000
A.D., the reformer David Rabrabi came among them. Benjamin Tudela knew them in the 12th century and Marco Polo in the 13th: Their communities are governed by the Mukadam, or head man, and their religious chiefs are called cadi. The latter perform circumcision and other rites. Consult Ezekiel, Joseph, in
a small antelope (Neo tragus saltianus) closely allied to the duyker boks, common in Abyssinia and on the shores of the Red Sea. It is known by the names omdigdig, madoqu is a, hegoleh and Salt's ante lope. It s a related species of the Neotragus Kirki, or Kirk's antelope, of southern Abys sinia, which is very numerous. They utter shrill cries and travel by long bounds. Their flesh has a heavy, unpleasant flavor.
ba-nl-lca-i'her (sons of Keber), an Arabic tribe supposed to be a rem nant of the ascetic tribe of .Rechabites.
a race or tribe of Berbers that dwell in the Sahara, near its northern border, under the supremacy of the French. They number some 30,000. They are peacefully disposed, and numbers of them are employed in Algiers in various occupations. In 1882 their territory was finally annexed to the department of Algiers and a special bureau was established at Ghardaia. Consult Coyne, A.,
bfi'ne-swar, Egypt, the capi tal of a province of the same name; is pleas antly situated on the left bank of the Nile, 65 miles south from Cairo, with which it is con nected by railway. It is the entrepot for the produce of the fertile valley of Fayoum, and contains cotton mills, controlled by the state, and alabaster quarries. Pop. (1907) 23,357. The province has an area of 400 square miles and a population estimated at 370,000.